Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 38:27

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 38:27. To satisfy the desolate and waste — The thunder cloud not only explodes over inhabited countries, that the air may be purified and the rain sent down to fertilize the earth, but it is conducted over deserts where there is no human inhabitant; and this to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth: for there are beasts, fowls, and insects, that inhabit the desert and the wilderness, and must be nourished by the productions of the ground. Every tribe of animals was made by the hand of God, and even the lowest of them is supported by his kind providence.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

38:1-42:17

GOD’S ANSWER

Control of the natural world (38:1-38)

Possibly an approaching storm was what prompted Elihu’s poetic praise of the God of nature (see 36:27-37:5). If so, that storm now broke, and through it the voice of God spoke to Job. Job had repeatedly challenged God to a contest. God now accepts (38:1-3).
In his reply, God asks Job questions that he cannot answer, in order to show him how little he knows of the mind and activity of the Almighty. God begins his ironical questioning of Job with a poetic description of his work in creating the world, something that he did long before Job or any other human being was born. Only angels witnessed his work (4-7). God separated the waters in the atmosphere from the waters on the earth and caused dry land to appear (8-11).
God asks Job if he is able to make the sun rise, so that those who rely on darkness to do evil are exposed. They are ‘shaken’ out of their hiding places as insects are shaken out of clothing (12-13). Can Job use the rays of the rising sun to create beautiful patterns and colours on the earth’s surface (14-15)? Has Job been to the depths of the sea or the ends of the earth? Does he know where the sun dwells so that he can make it rise each morning and take it to its resting place each evening? He should, if he has such great knowledge as he claims (16-21).
Does Job know how God controls the weather (22-24)? Who is it that makes snow, hail, wind, rain and lightning (25-30)? Can Job control the stars (31-33)? Can he send floods or create drought as he wishes (34-38)?

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

MORE QUESTIONS REGARDING NATURAL PHENOMENA

“Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, Or a way for the lightning of the thunder; To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, wherein there is no man; To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, And to cause the tender grass to spring forth? Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? The waters hide themselves, and become like stone, And the face of the deep is frozen.”

Do not men know all about things such as these? The answer is no! And one of the greatest mysteries of the whole physical creation is mentioned in Job 38:30. Let it be noted that, due to freezing, the waters become like stone. Why then, should it have been the “face of the deep” the surface of ponds and rivers, that should be `congealed’ (margin) or frozen? That amazing phenomenon that water expands when it freezes (contrary to practically every other liquid known to men) is inexplicable. No scientist ever born failed to marvel at it! The answer lies with God alone.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

To satisfy the desolate and waste ground - As if it lifted an imploring voice to God, and he sent down the rain to satisfy it. The desert is thus like a thirsty pilgrim. It is parched, and thirsty, and sad, and it appeals to God, and he meets its needs, and satisfies it.

Or to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth - In the desert. There God works alone. No man is there to cultivate the extended wilds, and yet an unseen agency is going forward. The grass springs up; the bud opens; the leaf expands; the flowers breathe forth their fragrance as if they were under the most careful cultivation. All this must be the work of God, since it cannot even be pretended that man is there to produce these effects. Perhaps one would be more deeply impressed with a sense of the presence of God in the pathless desert, or on the boundless prairie, where no man is, than in the most splendid park, or the most tastefully cultivated garden which man could make. In the one case, the hand of God alone is seen; in the other, we are constantly admiring the skill of man.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell me, if you have understanding. Who has laid the measures of it, tell me if you know? or who has stretched the line upon it? Where are the foundations fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy? ( Job 38:1-7 )

God is now talking to Job about the creation of the earth, about nature. Pointing out that Job knows so little about nature. "Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? What did I fasten the foundations upon? When the morning stars sang together."

Now, the morning stars, the word star oftentimes refers to the angels. You remember in the book of Revelation, chapter 13, when the dragon was cast out of heaven, he took a third part of the stars with him. Referring to the angels that fell with Satan. Now can you let your mind go back and we see God as He is bringing the earth into existence and the angels, the morning stars, are singing together and all the sons of God are shouting for joy. The sons of God referring again to angels. Now Jesus is referred to as the only begotten Son of God. Special classification. But the angels are referred to as sons of God. In the first chapter of Job the sons of God were presenting themselves to God, and Satan also came with them. In the New Testament, we are referred to as sons of God. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He shall appear we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" ( 1 John 3:2 ). But Jesus is the only begotten Son of God. What a glorious scene that must have been when God created the earth and the angels, the morning stars, sang together.

Who shut up the sea with the doors, when it broke forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and the thick darkness a swaddlingband for it ( Job 38:8-9 ),

God is talking about the earth now, His creation of the earth. "Who put the bounds for the seas, when I allowed the water to gush forth, as a child out of the womb? When I made the cloud a garment of the earth, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it."

And I broke it up for in my decreed place, I set the bars and doors, and said to the seas, This far you shall come, but no further: and here shall your proud waves be stayed? Have you commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. And from the wicked their light is withheld, and the high arm shall be broken. Have you entered into the springs of the sea? or have you walked in the search of the depth? Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? ( Job 38:10-17 )

Now go back to verse Job 38:2 : "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" God is rebuking Job for talking about things that he doesn't know anything about. "Have the gates of death been opened to you? Have you been beyond them? Do you know what is there?" You see, Job was saying, "Oh, I wish that I were dead, where all is silent, where there is no memory, where there is no thought. Oh, I wish I were in the oblivion of death. Where man is at rest, where everything is at peace." And God said, "Job, have you been there? Have the gates of death been opened to you? You're talking about these things, Job, but you don't know anything about them."

That is why it is wrong to use the scriptures out of Job to try to prove the doctrine of soul sleep. That when a person dies he is in an unconscious state of waiting, that there is no consciousness or awareness or anything else. That is wrong to conclude those doctrines out of the book of Job, which they usually find their proof scriptures in Job or in Ecclesiastes. And when we get to Ecclesiastes, we'll show why it's wrong to use Ecclesiastes for proof text. These were things that Job was saying, but God is rebuking him for saying them.

Have you perceived the breadth of the earth? tell it if you know it all. Where is the way where light dwells? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof ( Job 38:18-19 ),

Where does light dwell? Tell me this: where did the darkness go when they turned on the lights tonight? Where is the darkness hiding? Now it's around here someplace. And it's very close. All we have to do is flip off the lights and it moves right back in. But where is it lurking? I don't know. But God is questioning Job and saying, "Where is the place where light dwells? Where is the place where darkness dwells?"

That you should take it to the bound thereof, that you should know the paths to the house thereof? Do you know it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? or have you seen the treasures of the hail ( Job 38:20-22 ),

Beautiful treasures in every snowflake. Have you seen the pictures of snowflakes magnified? The beautiful geometric designs, and no two of them alike. Talk about a God of variety. You see a snowstorm, I don't know how many flakes of snow fall in a single storm, but it can blanket large areas of the United States. And you take those snowflakes and put them under a microscope and you'll see beautiful treasures of intricate, beautiful, geometric designs. Perfect geometrical patterns, and no two of them alike. Now how did Job know that when this book was written? "Have you entered into the treasures of the snow or the hail?"

But then He says something even more interesting:

Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? ( Job 38:23 )

What do you mean you've reserved the snow or ice for the day of war? During World War II, as we were seeking to supply the Allies with Trinitrotoluene (TNT), one of our ships was blown up because TNT is a very volatile type of explosive and, jarred, it'll go off. In fact, that's the way you set off TNT is by putting a dynamite cap in it and the dynamite cap, when it explodes, it sets off the whole Trinitrotoluene. But at any rate, Weissman discovered that by packing TNT in ice, they could transport it safely. After some of the ships and all had been blown to smithereens trying to transport TNT, this Jewish scientist discovered that if they would pack it in ice that that way they could transport it, store it and all without any dangers. Here God declared that He had reserved ice for the day of war and trouble. "I've reserved it for that." Man didn't come to the discovery of God's reservation until 1916 or so, but God had reserved it all that time for the day of battle and war.

By what way is the light parted ( Job 38:24 ),

"How is light divided?" God said. Now, we know that now we can divide light. We have developed the spectroscope and we can actually divide light into compartments. God was speaking about the dividing of light before man ever knew that light could be divided. It can be divided into definite areas through the spectroscope. God is challenging Job about this, thousands of years before we even discovered the spectroscopes.

Who hath divided the watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; or the wilderness, where there is no man; To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? ( Job 38:25-27 )

God said, "Who waters the wilderness, Job, causing the wilderness to bring forth grass and flowers and all?"

Has the rain a father? or who has begotten the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of the heaven, who hath gendered it? ( Job 38:28-29 )

How are these things formed, Job?

The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Can you bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in his season? or can you guide Arcturus with his sons? ( Job 38:30-32 )

The Pleiades is a constellation that is most commonly mistaken by amateur stargazers as the Little Dipper. It is a winter constellation and it comes up just about in the middle of the winter skies. And it's a little cluster of stars that does look something like a dipper, but it is the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters. Now the North Star is actually a part of Little Dipper and the Big Dipper. Of course, the pointer stars always point to the North Star, but it takes a good clear night in the mountains or out in the desert to actually see the Little Dipper, so it is accepted for people to make the mistake and to point at the Pleiades as the Little Dipper, but don't you make that mistake. In the winter constellations, then, of course, you get up early in the morning now and you can see the Pleiades is starting to come up early in the morning as we're moving into the fall equinox. But it is a part of the winter constellations, comes up in the center of the sky, small little cluster, Seven Sisters, the Pleiades.

Now, God said, "Can you bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades?" Astronomers now believe that the Pleiades actually is the center of the gravitational forces in our Milky Way Galaxy. Pretty well accepted now that it is the center of the gravity and the gravitational forces within the Milky Way Galaxy. Here God is telling Job, "Can you bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades?" Hinting actually, to what the astronomers have discovered, that this actually is the center of the gravitational forces in the Milky Way Galaxy.

Then God said, "How about, Job, how would you like the job of guiding Arcturus?" Arcturus is known as the runaway star. Now how did Job know this? It travels at about 125,000 miles per second. Now God said to Job, "How would you like the job of steering that thing through the sky?" Get this steering wheel and this large mass. Arcturus is larger than our sun, guiding that thing at 125,000 miles a second through the sky, dodging these stars and so forth so you don't have a major collision in our universe here. No thanks. You go ahead, God, and You keep Your hand on it.

Do you know the ordinances of the heaven? can you set the dominion thereof in the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that the abundance of water may cover thee? Can you send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? ( Job 38:33-35 )

Can you order the lightning?

Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? or who has given understanding to the heart? ( Job 38:36 )

Where did you get your knowledge? Where did you get understanding? Where does it come from? Who put it there? Who gave you the capacity? Who put the DNA there? Who created the memory cells? You know, God is just speaking of the marvels of His creation. Pointing to Job the marvels of His creative genius. And surely as David said, "We are fearfully and wonderfully made" ( Psalms 139:14 ), and we live in a marvelous universe.

Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, When the dust grows into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? Will you hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, when they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provides for the raven his food? ( Job 38:37-41 )

Who is overseeing the universe? Who's taking care of the animals, the ravens?

when the young ones are crying unto God, they wander for the lack of meat ( Job 38:41 ).

Here God saying these little ravens in the nest are squawking, they are actually crying unto Him.

"

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

To satisfy the desolate and waste [ground],.... Which is exceeding desolate, and therefore two such words are used to express it; which is so dry and thirsty that it is one of the four things that say not it is enough, Proverbs 30:16; and yet God can and does give it rain to its full satisfaction, Psalms 104:13; so the Lord satisfies souls, comparable to dry and thirsty ground, by his word and ordinances, with the goodness and fatness of his house; see Psalms 63:1;

and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? grass for the cattle, and herb for the service of men, Psalms 104:14; of like use is the word in a spiritual sense for the budding and increase of the graces of the Spirit in the Lord's people; see Deuteronomy 32:2.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;   26 To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;   27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?   28 Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?   29 Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?   30 The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.   31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?   32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?   33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?   34 Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?   35 Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?   36 Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?   37 Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,   38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?   39 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,   40 When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?   41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

      Hitherto God had put such questions to Job as were proper to convince him of his ignorance and short-sightedness. Now he comes, in the same manner, to show his impotency and weakness. As it is but little that he knows, and therefore he ought not to arraign the divine counsels, so it is but little that he can do, and therefore he ought not to oppose the proceedings of Providence. Let him consider what great things God does, and try whether he can do the like, or whether he thinks himself an equal match for him.

      I. God has thunder, and lightning, and rain, and frost, at command, but Job has not, and therefore let him not dare to compare himself with God, or to contend with him. Nothing is more uncertain than what weather it shall be, nor more out of our reach to appoint; it shall be what weather pleases God, not what pleases us, unless, as becomes us, whatever pleases God pleases us. Concerning this observe here,

      1. How great God is.

      (1.) He has a sovereign dominion over the waters, has appointed them their course, even then when they seem to overflow and to be from under his check, Job 38:25; Job 38:25. He has divided a water-course, directs the rain where to fall, even when the shower is most violent, with as much certainty as if it were conveyed by canals or conduit-pipes. Thus the hearts of kings are said to be in God's hand; and as the rains, those rivers of God, he turns them whithersoever he will. Every drop goes as it is directed. God has sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more return to cover the earth; and we see that he is able to make good what he has promised, for he has the rain in a water-course.

      (2.) He has dominion over the lightning and the thunder, which go not at random, but in the way that he directs them. They are mentioned here because he prepares the lightnings for the rain,Psalms 135:7. Let not those that fear God be afraid of the lightning or the thunder, for they are not blind bullets, but go the way that God himself, who means no hurt to them, directs.

      (3.) In directing the course of the rain he does not neglect the wilderness, the desert land (Job 38:26; Job 38:27), where no man is. [1.] Where there is no man to be employed in taking care of the productions. God's providence reaches further than man's industry. If he had not more kindness for many of the inferior creatures than man has, it would go ill with them. God can make the earth fruitful without any art or pains of ours, Genesis 2:5; Genesis 2:6. When there was not a man to till the ground, yet there went up a mist and watered it. But we cannot make it fruitful without God; it is he that gives the increase. [2.] Where there is no man to be provided for nor to take the benefit of the fruits that are produced. Though God does with very peculiar favour visit and regard man, yet he does not overlook the inferior creatures, but causes the bud of the tender herb to spring forth for food for all flesh, as well as for the service of man. Even the wild asses shall have their thirst quenched, Psalms 104:11. God has enough for all, and wonderfully provides even for those creatures that man neither has service from nor makes provision for.

      (4.) He is, in a sense, the Father of the rain,Job 38:28; Job 38:28. It has no other father. He produces it by his power; he governs and directs it, and makes what use he pleases of it. Even the small drops of the dew he distils upon the earth, as the God of nature; and, as the God of grace, he rains righteousness upon us and is himself as the dew unto Israel. See Hosea 14:5; Micah 5:7.

      (5.) The ice and the frost, by which the waters are congealed and the earth incrustrated, are produced by his providence, Job 38:29; Job 38:30. These are very common things, which lessens the strangeness of them. But, considering what a vast change is made by them in a very little time, how the waters are hid as with a stone, as with a grave-stone, laid upon them (so thick, so strong, is the ice that covers them), and the face even of the deep is sometimes frozen, we may well ask, "Out of whose womb came the ice? What created power could produce such a wonderful work?" No power but that of the Creator himself. Frost and snow come from him, and therefore should lead our thoughts and meditations to him who does such great things, past finding out. And we shall the more easily bear the inconveniences of winter-weather if we learn to make this good use of it.

      2. How weak man is. Can he do such things as these? Could Job? No, Job 38:34; Job 38:35. (1.) He cannot command one shower of rain for the relief of himself or his friends: "Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, those bottles of heaven, that abundance of waters may cover thee, to water thy fields when they are dry and parched?" If we lift up our voice to God, to pray for rain, we may have it (Zechariah 10:1); but if we lift up our voice to the clouds, to demand it, they will soon tell us they are not at our beck, and we shall go without it, Jeremiah 14:22. The heavens will not her the earth unless God hear them, Hosea 2:21. See what poor, indigent, depending creatures we are; we cannot do without rain, nor can we have it when we will. (2.) He cannot commission one flash of lightning, if he had a mind to make use of it for the terror of his enemies (Job 38:35; Job 38:35): "Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go on thy errand, and do the execution thou desirest? Will they come at thy call, and say unto thee, Here we are?" No, the ministers of God's wrath will not be ministers of ours. Why should they, since the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God? See Luke 9:55.

      II. God has the stars of heaven under his command and cognizance, but we have them not under ours. Our meditations are now to rise higher, far above the clouds, to the glorious lights above. God mentions particularly, not the planets, which move in lower orbs, but the fixed stars, which are much higher. It is supposed that they have an influence upon this earth, notwithstanding their vast distance, not upon the minds of men or the events of providence (men's fate is not determined by their stars), but upon the ordinary course of nature; they are set for signs and seasons, for days and years, Genesis 1:14. And if the stars have such a dominion over this earth (Job 38:33; Job 38:33), though they have their place in the heavens and are but mere matter, much more has he who is their Maker and ours, and who is an Eternal Mind. Now see how weak we are. 1. We cannot alter the influences of the stars (Job 38:31; Job 38:31), not theirs that are instrumental to produce the pleasures of the spring: Canst thou loose the bands of Orion?--that magnificent constellation which makes so great a figure (none greater), and dispenses rough and unpleasing influences, which we cannot control nor repel. Both summer and winter will have their course. God can change them when he pleases, can make the spring cold, and so bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, and the winter warm, and so loose the bands of Orion; but we cannot. 2. It is not in our power to order the motions of the stars, nor are we entrusted with the guidance of them. God, who calls the stars by their names (Psalms 147:4), calls them forth in their respective seasons, appointing them the time of their rising and setting. But this is not our province; we cannot bring forth Mazzaroth--the stars in the southern signs, nor guide Arcturus--those in the northern, Job 38:32; Job 38:32. God can bring forth the stars to battle (as he did when in their courses they fought against Sisera) and guide them in the attacks they are ordered to make; but man cannot do so. 3. We are not only unconcerned in the government of the stars (the government they are under, and the government they are entrusted with, for they both rule and are ruled), but utterly unacquainted with it; we know not the ordinances of heaven,Job 38:33; Job 38:33. So far are we from being able to change them that we can give no account of them; they are a secret to us. Shall we then pretend to know God's counsels, and the reasons of them? If it were left to us to set the dominion of the stars upon the earth, we should soon be at a loss. Shall we then teach God how to govern the world?

      III. God is the author and giver, the father and fountain, of all wisdom and understanding, Job 38:36; Job 38:36. The souls of men are nobler and more excellent beings than the stars of heaven themselves, and shine more brightly. The powers and faculties of reason with which man is endued, and the wonderful performances of thought, bring him into some alliance to the blessed angels; and whence comes this light, but from the Father of lights? Who else has put wisdom into the inner parts of man, and given understanding to the heart? 1. The rational soul itself, and its capacities, come from him as the God of nature; for he forms the spirit of man within him. We did not make our own souls, nor can we describe how they act, nor how they are united to our bodies. He only that made them knows them, and knows how to manage them. He fashioneth men's hearts alike in some things, and yet unlike in others. 2. True wisdom, with its furniture and improvement, comes from him as the God of grace and the Father of every good and perfect gift. Shall we pretend to be wiser than God, when we have all our wisdom from him? Nay, shall we pretend to be wise above our sphere, and beyond the limits which he that gave us our understanding sets to it? He designed we should with it serve God and do our duty, but never intended we should with it set up for directors of the stars or the lightning.

      IV. God has the clouds under his cognizance and government, but so have not we, Job 38:37; Job 38:37. Can any man, with all his wisdom, undertake to number the clouds, or (as it may be read) to declare and describe the nature of them? Though they are near us, in our own atmosphere, yet we know little more of them than of the stars which are at so great a distance. And when the clouds have poured down rain in abundance, so that the dust grows into solid mire and the clods cleave fast together (Job 38:38; Job 38:38), who can stay the bottles of heaven? Who can stop them, that it may not always rain? The power and goodness of God are herein to be acknowledged, that he gives the earth rain enough, but does not surfeit it, softens it, but does not drown it, makes it fit for the plough, but not unfit for the seed. As we cannot command a shower of rain, so we cannot command a fair day, without God; so necessary, so constant, is our dependence upon him.

      V. God provides food for the inferior creatures, and it is by his providence, not by any care or pains of ours, that they are fed. The following chapter is wholly taken up with the instances of God's power and goodness about animals, and therefore some transfer to it the last three verses of this chapter, which speak of the provision made, 1. For the lions, Job 38:39; Job 38:40. "Thou dost not pretend that the clouds and stars have any dependence upon thee, for they are above thee; but on the earth thou thinkest thyself paramount; let us try that then: Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? Thou valuest thyself upon thy possessions of cattle which thou wast once owner of, the oxen, and asses, and camels, that were fed at thy crib; but wilt thou undertake the maintenance of the lions, and the young lions, when they couch in their dens, waiting for a prey? No, needest not do it, they can shift for themselves without thee: thou canst not do it, for thou hast not wherewithal to satisfy them: thou darest not do it; shouldst thou come to feed them, they would seize upon thee. But I do it." See the all-sufficiency of the divine providence: it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living thing, even the most ravenous. See the bounty of the divine Providence, that, wherever it has given life, it will give livelihood, even to those creatures that are not only not serviceable, but dangerous, to man. And see its sovereignty, that it suffers some creatures to be killed for the support of other creatures. The harmless sheep are torn to pieces, to fill the appetite of the young lions, who yet sometimes are made to lack and suffer hunger, to punish them for their cruelty, while those that fear God want no good thing. 2. For the young ravens, Job 38:41; Job 38:41. As ravenous beasts, so ravenous birds, are fed by the divine Providence. Who but God provides for the raven his food? Man does not; he takes care only of those creatures that are, or may be, useful to him. But God has a regard to all the works of his hands, even the meanest and least valuable. The ravens' young ones are in a special manner necessitous, and God supplies them, Psalms 147:9. God's feeding the fowls, especially these fowls (Matthew 6:26), is an encouragement to us to trust him for our daily bread. See here, (1.) What distress the young ravens are often in: They wander for lack of meat. The old ones, they say, neglect them, and do not provide for them as other birds do for their young: and indeed those that are ravenous to others are commonly barbarous to their own, and unnatural. (2.) What they are supposed to do in that distress: They cry, for they are noisy clamorous creatures, and this is interpreted as crying to God. It being the cry of nature, it is looked upon as directed to the God of nature. The putting of so favourable a construction as this upon the cries of the young ravens may encourage us in our prayers, though we can but cry, Abba, Father. (3.) What God does for them. Some way or other he provides for them, so that they grow up, and come to maturity. And he that takes this care of the young ravens certainly will not be wanting to his people or theirs. This, being but one instance of many of the divine compassion, may give us occasion to think how much good our God does, every day, beyond what we are aware of.

Spurgeon's Verse Expositions of the Bible

Rain and Grace A Parallel

April 5 th 1883 by

C. H. SPURGEON

(1834-1892)

“Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; to cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; to satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? “ Job 38:25-27 .

Job was an admirable man, but the Lord meant to make him still better. The best of men are but men at the best; and though Job was in a certain sense perfect, yet he was not perfectly perfect, there was a further stage beyond that which he had reached, else would he not have been tried as he was. But, because the Lord knew that there was something better for Job than he had already attained, he had to be subjected to extraordinary trial. He was such a valuable diamond that there had to be more cutting for him than for a common stone. He was made of such good metal that he paid for being put into the furnace; there would come out something still more pleasing to the great Refiner if he cast that which was so precious into the most fervent heat. Hence it was that Job was so greatly tried; yet, after all his trials, it seemed as if he would miss their blessed result; or his three friends the miserable comforters appeared to be the marplots of the whole design. By their cruel, cutting, sarcastic observations, they irritated Job, so that it looked as if he would be harder instead of softer because of the fires. Sometimes, when a man knows that he is being unjustly and unfairly treated, he stiffens his back, and hardens himself, and influences which, by themselves, might have wrought great tenderness of spirit, are spoiled because something else is thrown in. Job was in this condition, and he therefore seemed to rise in his own estimation rather than to sink, as was desired, until at last the Lord ended the dispute by manifesting himself. Out of the whirlwind he spoke to Job, and bade him gird up his loins, and meet his Maker if he dared; then it was that Job was brought to his right position, and at the end he said, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Then Job realized the benefit of his affliction; but not till then. When the Lord revealed to Job his supremacy, his eternal glory, and in that light compelled him to see his own imperfection and nothingness, then the patriarch’s trials became sanctified to him.

Our text is a part of God’s challenge to Job. The Lord seemed to say, “If Job is indeed as great as he half thinks he is, let him see whether he can do what his Creator does.” He is challenged about so slight a matter, apparently, as the sending of the rain. Does Job know how it is done? Can he explain all the phenomena? Our modern scientists tell us how rain is produced, and I suppose their explanation is the correct one; but they cannot tell us how it is that power is given to carry out what they call “the laws of nature,” neither can they make the rain themselves; nor, if a drought were to continue till the nation was on the verge of famine, would they be able to cover the skies with blackness, or even to water a single acre of land. No; with all our explanations, it is still a great mystery, and it remains a secret with God how it is that he waters the earth with rain.

I am not going into that matter at this time; I intend to use the rain as an emblem of the grace of God, as it usually is in Scripture, a figure of that blessed overflowing of the river of God’s love which comes down to quench our thirst of sin, to refresh us, to enliven us, to fertilize us, to soften us, and to cleanse us. This matchless water of life has all sorts of uses, and God sends it, when he pleases, in abundant showers upon his own people according to that ancient word, “Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.” The Hebrew means, “Thou didst pour out blessings,” as from a cornucopia, and so “Thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.” There are many here who are weary, they want to be refreshed, and they are praying to God to send a gracious shower, a copious distilling of his matchless grace upon their hearts and lives. I am going to preach upon this passage with the desire that, while I am speaking, such a blessing may come upon us, or that, at any rate, we may begin to pray for it.

I. My first point is that, As God Alone Giveth Rain, So God Alone Giveth Grace.

Jehovah asks of Job the question, “Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; to cause it to rain on the earth?” It is God, and God only, who creates rain. We cannot make it, but he can and he does give it; and it is absolutely so with his grace, The Lord must give it, or there will be none. If it had not been for his eternal plan, whereby he purposed to give grace to the guilty, the whole race of mankind would have been left, like the fallen angels, without hope and without mercy. The angels that kept not their, first estate, but rebelled against God, were given over to punishment, without any intimation whatever of redemption for them, or of any possibility of their restoration. God, who does as he wills with his grace which is most sovereign and free, passed over the fallen angels, and made his grace to light on insignificant and guilty men. And it has been after the same fashion in all history; if God has withholden the blessings of his grace from any of the nations, they have not been able to procure them for themselves. One lone light Burned in Israel for hundreds of years, while the rest of the inhabitants of the earth were left in darkness; and the world, with all its wisdom, could not and did not find out God. Men, in their ignorance, set up idols almost as numerous as their worshippers, and in their blindness they went way and that way, but always astray from God. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from Father of lights,” as certainly as the rain comes down from heaven. There is but one source of supply for grace, and that source is God himself. He giveth grace, and “he giveth more grace;” else there would be none whatever amongst the sons of men.

And, moreover, it is God who finds the way by which his grace can come to men. I will not enter into any elaborate explanations of my text; it signifies that God finds a way by which the ram comes down from the upper regions to water the thirsty fields. “Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters?” Only God himself has made a channel for the rain; we could not have made it. So is it with his grace; otherwise, how could grace have come to man? How was it possible for the thrice-holy God to deal leniently with sinners who had provoked him to anger? How could it be that the Judge of all the earth, who must be just, should, nevertheless, pass by transgression, iniquity, and sin? This is a problem which would have perplexed a Sanhedrim of seraphim. If all the mightiest intelligences that God has ever made had sat together in solemn conclave for a thousand years, yet they would not have been able to solve this problem, How can God be just, and yet the Justifier of the ungodly? Infinite wisdom devised that matchless way of substitution, by which, through the death of the Son of God, men might be saved. There is the stamp of Divinity about that verse, “the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

It is God who gives grace, and God who, in a divinely-gracious way, has given his only-begotten and well-beloved Son to be the channel through which grace can come down to guilty men. Blessed be God for this; and let his name be adored for ever.

Having thus resolved upon giving grace to men, and having made a channel in which his grace might flow to men, let it never be forgotten that God now directs the pathway of all the grace that comes into the world. Our parallel, in the natural world, is that, according to the original of our text, there is a sort of canal, or trackway, made for every drop of water as it descends from the heavens to the earth. There is not the most minute particle of rain that is left to fall according to its own fancy or will; each single drop of water, that is blown aslant by the March wind, is as surely steered by God as are yonder glorious stars revolving in their orbits. There is a purpose of God concerning every solitary flake of snow and every single portion of hail that comes clown from heaven; all these are ordered according to his eternal counsel and will. God alone can arrange all this. It always seems to me to be a very wonderful way in which the world is watered. If all the rain were to pour upon us at once in a deluge, we should all he drowned; but it comes down gently, drop by drop, and thus it effects God’s purpose much more surely than if it burst in one tremendous waterspout destroying everything. God, by the mysterious laws by which he governs inanimate matter, has so planned it that the rain shall come in drops exactly of the right size, such drops as shall hang upon a tiny blade of grass, and scarcely shall bend it. See how the bright drops, like so many diamonds, hang in myriads on the hedgerows, just the right size to hang there, neither too large nor too little; so is it with the grace of God, it is given sovereignly and wisely.

I daresay some Christian people think that they would like to have, in their first five minutes after believing in Christ, all the grace they ever will have; but it cannot be so. I have often admired that expression of the apostle Paul, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.” God teaches us his will, but he does not teach us too much at a time. Have you never seen children, who have been put to school, so hardly driven by their masters, that they have been crippled mentally, and have never made the advance they ought to have made because they were overdriven at the first? I have met with this sort of thing spiritually; in several cases I have known, men and women have learned so much of the things of God in a short time that their reason has been most seriously jeopardized. I have often had to look at young converts, and almost to pray that they might not learn too much at once, for the deep things of God are so wonderful to a man who is just plucked out of the world that, if the cases of insanity through religion were much more frequent than they are, I should not be at all astonished. I wonder how any of us can bear what God has taught us already. If you could give eyesight to a man born blind, and then, in a moment, were to place him in the full blaze of the sun, it would be a serious danger to him; if he has been long in the darkness, he must see the light by degrees. In like manner, we ought to thank God that he does not deluge us at once with all the grace we ever shall have; but he gives it to us gently, as soft vernal showers which, in infinite wisdom, distil upon the thirsty earth.

So we have seen that God giveth grace, God finds a way of giving grace, and then God directs the way of his grace, and the measure and the manner of it; and he does it all in wisdom and prudence.

See, then, my dear friends, I hope you all do, our absolute dependence upon God for all spiritual blessings. A farmer may do all he likes with his ground, but he will never have a harvest if God withholds the rain. He may be the most skillful agriculturist who ever lived, but he can do nothing if the heavens above him are as brass. If he were to call in the most learned astronomer of the day, there is not one who, with his wand, could move the stars, or cause the clouds to open, and pour down rain upon the earth. If there were sore trouble in the land Because farming was failing lot lack of ram, if both Houses of Parliament were to be called together, and the Queen were to sit upon her throne of state, and they were unanimously to pass an act ordering the rain to fall, he that sitteth in the heavens would laugh, the Lord would have them in derision, tot the key of the rain is in no hand but that of Jehovah. It is exactly so with the grace of God. You and I cannot command it. The presence of the most holy men in our midst would not of itself bring it. The most earnest preaching, the most Scriptural doctrine, the most faithful obedience to ordinances, would not make it necessary that we should receive grace. God must give it; he is an absolute Sovereign, and we are entirely dependent upon him.

To what does this fact drive us? It drives us to prayer. When we have done all that we can, and surely we can scarcely pray if we have neglected anything that we can do, but when we have done all that lies within our power as earnest-hearted Christian workers, then we must come to the Lord himself for strength, and unto the God of our salvation for all power. This has been said so many times that, when I say it again, someone may reply, “That is a mere platitude.” Just so, and the mischief is that the Church is beginning to think it is only a platitude; but if we all felt that the most important thing for the Church of Christ to do, after she has borne her testimony to the world, is to pray, what a different state of things there would soon be! But now you know what they are doing in far too many places; they push the prayer-meeting up into a corner, and if there is anything to be put off, they give up the prayer-meeting. In some of our places of worship, we might search a long time for the prayer-meeting. It is somewhere in the back settlements, down in some small room which is too big for it even then. People plead that they cannot get out to the prayer-meeting; they will go out to a lecture, or to spend the evening for pleasure; but they do not care to go out when it is “only a prayer-meeting.” Just so; and as long as that is the estimation in which professing Christians hold it, so long must we cease to expect showers of blessing from on high. The main thing is for the Church to pray. She knows that she is dependent upon her God; let her show it by crying day and night to him that he would send a blessing.

There is a big mill, with all its spindles and all its workers; I think I see it now as we speed along in the train through one of our Northern counties. It is all lit up to-night, and many busy hands are at work; but where is the power that makes those spindles move? In that little shed outside, where there is a man, with black hands, stirring the fire, and keeping up the pressure of steam. That is where the power is; and that is a picture of the prayer-meeting. It is the source of the Church’s energy; and if public prayer be neglected, or if private prayer be slackened, or if family prayer be held back in any degree, we lose the power which brings the blessing; and this will be acknowledged when we come truly to know that all the power is of God, and that, as we cannot command a drop of rain, but must leave it in the hands of God, so we cannot command an ounce of grace, if grace is to he so measured, it must come from God, and from God alone.

II. Now, secondly, dear friends, notice in my text that, As God Gives Rain, So Rain Falls Of Men: “Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; to cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man?”

I daresay you have often thought it strange that it should rain on! at sea, where it cannot water a single furrow, or apparently benefit any human being. Is it not still more strange that the water should fall so abundantly on vast tracts of sand, and on plains that as yet have never been trodden by the foot of man, and on those lofty peaks, those virgin hills, where a human being has never yet been found? Men have a notion that nothing is good for anything if it is not good for them; but they are very foolish for thinking so. If what God does in providence is good for nothing but for a rat, it is not unwise for him to do it. He has other creatures to think of beside men, and he does think of them. The little fish in the sea, and the birds of the air, and even the worms in the earth, are remembered by the Most High; and, sometimes, that weather which we say is so bad is only bad because it is bad for us, the rebels against God. It may have been given specially for the birds; and perhaps, sometimes, God thinks that it is better to have weather that is good for birds than good for men, for he has to provide for us all, and they at least have not sinned; and if he thinks of them, there is as much of mercy in the thought as when he thinks of us rebellious creatures. He makes it “to rain on the earth, where no man is.”

Now the parallel in grace is this, that God’s grace will come without any human observation. If the grace of God comes to some of us, thousands will see it, for they will mark the working of his grace in our life and conversation. But there sits a dear friend, over yonder, so obscure that possibly only two or three will ever know anything that she does. Perhaps, my brother, only half-a-dozen are affected by your influence. Do you not rejoice that God, who makes the rain to fall where no man is, will make his grace to come to you, though nobody, or, at most, only two or three, may see it? I have delighted sometimes to wander into the middle of a wood, and get far away from all sound of the voices of fallen men, and then to spy out some little flower growing right amongst the big trees. The sun gets at it, somehow, for a few hours in the day, and in his golden beams that little flower rejoices; and as I have looked at it, and seen its beauty, I have remembered the words of the poet,

“Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,”

and I have not at all agreed with him when he added,

“And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

It is God’s flower; God made it grow that he might look at it himself, and, therefore, its sweetness was not wasted, for God was there to appreciate and accept it. The most beautiful places in the world are, doubtless, places where men have never been. The most lovely gardens are those that God himself keeps, where no Adam has been placed to till the soil. His trees, untouched by the axe, and unpruned by the knife, grow gloriously: “The trees of the Lord are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted.” My heart has rejoiced as I have thought of God walking among the great trees of the far-off West, those mighty monarchs of the forest that seem to touch the stars, walking among them when nobody was there but himself, looking at the works of his own hands, and admiring what he had made. Well, now, if you happen to be a solitary person, quite alone, one who will never make a noise in the world for all that God does for you; never mind about that. He causes it to rain on the earth, where no man is; and your obscurity shall not keep back the blessing.

So, you see, rain comes without human observation. And it also comes without human co-operation, for it often rains “where no man is.” Therefore, no man helps God to send the rain. As to grace, it also often comes where there is no man to bring it. When a person has not heard a sermon, when he has been on the sea, far away from all means of grace, yet God has caused it to rain upon him. There is here to-night, I think, a brother, who left this country unimpressed by the gospel, who, nevertheless, when near the shores of Australia, sat down, and read a sermon which his wife had put into his box, and God met with him there. The Lord has many ways of proving that his grace descends upon men without any help from them, and that he can send it where he pleases by ways of his own. If the ordinary means should seem to fail, he can cause it to rain “where no man is.”

Perhaps there is somebody here who is going right away from the usual means of grace. Possibly, dear friend, you are fretting to yourself as you think, “I shall never come to this place of worship again; perhaps I may never hear the gospel to my soul’s comfort again.” Suppose you are right away in the bush of Australia, God can send his grace to you there just as easily as he can send it here. If you are going to the backwoods of America or Canada, do not be afraid; the Lord is at home there. If you have to settle down in a log-hut, and are miles from any meeting of Christian people, be not dispirited or cast down; but, in your loneliness, sit and sing, and let this be a part of your song, “He maketh a way for the overflowing of waters, to cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man.” Wherefore be encouraged by this second thought.

III. I had many other things to say to you upon this point, but time fails, so I must notice, thirdly, that Both Rain And Grace Fall Where We Might Least Have Expected Them: “To satisfy the desolate and waste ground.”

Grace comes where there was no grace before. Where all was desert and waste, there comes the rain; and where all was graceless and godless, there comes the grace of God.

Grace comes where there is the greatest need of it. Here was a dreadful place; it was waste; it was a wilderness; yet the rain came there; and where there are men who feel themselves to be just as dead and barren as a desert, grace will come even there. The rain comes to wildernesses, and grace can come to you, poor guilty sinners. If you have nothing with which to entertain the grace, grace will bring its own company with it. It will come into your empty heart, and make you one of the “people prepared for the Lord.” Grace waits not for men, neither tarries for the sins of men. We call it prevenient grace, because it comes before it is sought, and God bestows it on a people who are utterly undeserving of it.

Grace comes where, apparently, there is nothing to repay it for coming. When the rain falls on the wilderness, it does seem as if no result could follow from its fall. What a mercy it is that, when we have nothing to pay, God lavishes his mercy upon us, and in due time we do repay him in the way he expects. I do not suppose that many of you have ever seen the great steppes of Russia; but I have been told that, for thousands of miles, they are like our London streets, without a single blade of anything green, a horrible desolation; yet after the snow has gone, and spring time comes in, and summer with its wonderful heat, that plain is covered with grass and with abundant flowers of the field; and the grass continues until it is cut for use, and then the land returns to just that same barren appearance which it wore before. It is singular, is it not, that showers of rain and the warmth of the sun should produce vegetation where, apparently, there seemed to be none whatever?

Just so does the grace of God come to a sinner’s heart, It is all hard, dead, black, hopeless; but when the grace comes, it brings life with it, and suddenly there spring up in the man all manner of good works, and holy words, and gracious thoughts, and everything that is sweet and pleasing in the sight of God. And what is best of all, it continues to produce a harvest that never dries up, and never does the soil return to its former barrenness again. Wherefore, beloved, let us take heart concerning the grace of God. If the rain comes where there seems to be no argument in favor of its coming, so may the grace of God come to you who have no right to it, no expectation of it, no hope of it, nay, are even filled with despair concerning it. While you are sitting here, the Lord can meet with you, and save you. Be of good comfort; to you is the gospel sent, saying, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Trust thy guilty soul with him, and thou, even thou, shalt receive the showers of love that come from God’s right hand. There is nothing in the covenant of grace that shall be held back from you, even though you are the very worst and vilest one in this place, if you only trust the Savior. Though you may write yourself down as most surely lost, and given up to barrenness, like the heath that is nigh unto burning, yet it shall not be so with you, God shall bless you, and that right early.

“Oh, if he does!” says one, “I will bless his name.” Theft that is one reason why he will do it, that you may bless his name. I have often told you of one who said, “If God saves me, he shall never hear the last of it.” Well, that is the sort of people he likes to save, people who, with glad heart and voice, will tell out, and tell out again, and tell out to all eternity that the Lord saved them, even them. Remember the text of last Sabbath night, for it is just in the same key as the text of tonight: “He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away.” He has caused it “to rain on the earth where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; to satisfy the desolate and waste ground;” for it is to these waste grounds, these desolate places, that God specially looks with favor. If you are great in your own esteem, he will make you little; but if you are little, he will make you great. If you live by your own power, you shall be slain; but if you are slain, and dead beyond hope of recovery in yourself, you shall be made alive. You empty ones shall be filled; and you filled ones shall be emptied. You that are up shall be down; and you that are down shall be lifted up, for God turns things upside down; and when he comes to work, he effects marvellous changes in the condition of the hearts of men.

IV. Now I close by noticing, in the fourth place, that Rain, When It Comes;, Is Most Valued By Life, for we read in our text, that it comes “to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth.”

You may water a dead post as long as you like, yet nothing will come of it; but the tenderest, tiniest little herb, that has a bud fast shut, knows when the rain comes, and begins to develop its hidden power, and open its bud to the rain and to the sun. That is why the grace of God comes, “to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth.” I hope that there is here a good deal of budding life. The Lord has looked upon you, and has made you feel uneasy; that is a bud. Oh, that the uneasiness might open into full repentance! The Lord has looked upon you, and he has given you desires. Oh, that the grace of God may increase those desires till they shall open into resolution and determination! The Lord has sent the dew from on high upon your soul, dear friend, and you are beginning to hope that there is salvation somewhere, and perhaps for you. Oh, that the hope may open, like a bud that has been shut up, -open into faith in Jesus Christ, so that you shall say, “I will trust in him.” All the buds everywhere just now are trying to get out into the sunshine; they seem bound up in gummy envelopes, but they are beginning to open in the sunshine. I like to sit under the fir trees, and hear the crack of the opening caused by the heat of the sun. You can almost see the trees rejoicing that summer-time is coming. So may you see young converts open when the grace of God is displayed abundantly; they grow before your very eyes till, sometimes, you are astonished at what the grace of God does, with wise prudence, but yet with a sweet readiness, upon the hearts of the sons of men.

How far have your buds developed? Have you begun to pray a little? Oh, that your prayer might be more intense! I hope that little bud of private prayer will grow till it comes to family prayer,-so that you can pray with your wife and children. You have been reading your Bible lately, have you? Oh, thank God for that! Now I hope that bud of Bible-reading will open into the daily habit of feeding upon the Word of God. Go right through the Bible if you can. Pray to God to give you a solid knowledge of its contents, that you may be rooted and grounded in what his Spirit teaches you there. Some of you have another sort of bud; you have been thinking of what you can do for Christ. You thought you were converted, but you have never done much for Christ. I do not use any whips, but sometimes I am tempted to take a good long one to some of those lazy folk who do nothing, and yet hope to go to heaven. One says, “I think, my dear Pastor, that I must try to do something for Christ.” Well, that is a bud; may the grace of God be so abundant that you will leave off trying, and get actually to doing! “How am I to serve God?” said one to me, the other day. I answered, “My dear brother, get at it. ’Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.’ Don’t come and ask me, for where there is so much to be done, the man is idle who asks, ’What am I to do?’ Do the first thing that comes to hand” If a soldier in battle saw that the enemy was winning the day, he would not be hesitating, and asking, “Captain, what can I do?” He would kill the first fellow that came near, and so must you, in a spiritual sense. Do something for Christ. Oh, that this church might begin to open all its buds! May every little one become a thousand, and every small one a great multitude, to the praise of the glory of the grace of God! O you little ones, you hidden ones, you timid ones, you trembling ones, the grace of God is abundant! Open to receive it. See how the crocus, after having been long hidden beneath the soil, knows when the new year begins, and as soon as the sun smiles on the earth, it gently lifts up its golden cup; and is there anything more beautiful in all the world than the crocus cup when God fills that chalice with the light of heaven? What a depth of wonderful brightness of color there is within it! All the crocus can do is to open itself; and that is all you can do, just stand and drink in God’s light. Open yourself to the sweet influences of the grace of God. The fair lilies of the garden left not, neither do they spin; but yet they glorify God. How they seem to stand still and just show what God can do with them! They just drink in the light and heat, and then pour it all out again in silent, quiet beauty. Now you do just the same; let the purity of your life, like the purity of the lily, glorify the God who created it in you. So may his blessing rest upon you all, clear friends, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.